Trouble logging in?We were forced to invalidate all account passwords. You will have to reset your password to login. If you have trouble resetting your password, please send us a message with as much helpful information as possible, such as your username and any email addresses you may have used to register. Whatever you do, please do not create a new account. That is not the right solution, and it is against our forum rules to own multiple accounts.

I was looking for a thread dedicated to this manga and didn't find one, so time to create one, clearly!

Shingeki no Kyojin (進撃の巨人)
Mangaka: Hajime Isayama

Quote:

Originally Posted by Story Synopsis

Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by giants. Giants are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of giants.

Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a giant in over 100 years. Teenage boy Elen and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a super giant that appears out of thin air. As the smaller giants flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Elen vows that he will murder every single giant and take revenge for all of mankind.

A friend recommended this to me a few days ago and upon checking it had gotten 7th place in Manga Taisho, I finally decided to give it a go. Read the nine avaible scanlated chapters and I'm really liking it. It's a shounen action manga, but it sets itself apart because of its unique setting and the overall more explicit approach to violence. The action is also pretty good, it's got a nice flow to it, and the machines they use to combat the giants are actually quite neat. Well thought out, and explained in detail to the reader in order for them to figure out exactly what sort of stunts the characters can (and will) pull off.

The weakest point so far has been the art, it's got a somewhat rough style that fits the giants very well since they are supposed to be ugly creatures that just vaguely resemble humans, but when applied to the actual humans it doesn't work as well as one would expect. Still, it's a minor nitpick, because the story so far's proving to be interesting, and the main characters are quite well written. In particular Mikasa, who's the star of the show. There's a clear lack of badass women right now, in particular those who just never really take the time to be whiny and sulk over the terrible things that have happened to her. Always looking forward and fighting with her own hands in order to assure a future to those who are precious to her and herself.

The title seems to be getting quite popular, and the fact it managed to get 7th place on "Manga Taisho" and actually winning "Kono Manga ga Sugoi!" in 2011. Funnily enough, the mangaka first took this to JUMP in order to get serialized, but he was told that the manga wasn't in line with the stuff JUMP usually published and was told to changed it around. Since he didn't feel like it, he took it to Magazine and that's where it's been running ever since, Bessatsu Shounen Magazine. Tough luck for Jump, I suppose? Then again if it isn't what they're used to publishing there's no helping it, hah.

That said, anyone reading it? Did it pick your interest? If so, then check it out, by all means. If you're a fan of shounen action manga which don't focus on the whole "powerlevel" progression method, this should be right up your alley. It might be a bit gore-y at times, but it's definitly something that adds up to the experience.

Looking forward to reading some people's impressions in order for us to setup some discussions about it in the future!

Read this earlier in the year, so I'm just writing what I recall from memory. The manga's pretty interesting, and I think the setting is the strength of this series; a number of details seem fairly well thought out. Another good thing is that somehow it manages to draw out some emotions; after a few chapters I felt ready to go out and kill some giants myself, the passively defending humans be damned.

As Blue-kun stated the weak point is the art. It's not terrible, but nothing remarkable. The art looks rough, but it could just be the intended style (?). I also get the feeling that the art doesn't fully illustrate or bring to life the ideas the author has, particularly for the action scenes.

Definitely going to keep an eye out for further chapters, hopefully the humans don't all get wiped out

Series is really great. Wonder how Mikasa sees Elen as, a brother or more?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravenblitz

nothing' romantically implied yet

that rouge giant is intriguing

Some considerations and random thoughts on those...

Spoiler for Stuff from up to chapter 9:

I agree that it doesn't seem like there's enough evidence to support any sort of romantical pairing, although they really aren't blood related and she definitely cares for him a lot. On the other hand, it might also not be fueled by romantic feelings, and more of a feeling of gratitude for what he did, showing her a way (or the way) she should live. She seems to have taken his words about "survival of the fittest" very seriously, as seen in that scene where she's preparing to go save the other guys.

Also, as for the red giant, the whole Elen-becomes-a-giant thing made me wonder whether or not he's also human. None of the other giants seem to display any sort of intelligence among them, but that one is clearly on a different level. Plus, it somehow manages to disappear at will, which would fit, since I guess it'd be easy to "hide" considering the walls are so high.

On the other hand, it seemed like Elen simply "took over" the body of a giant and it transformed into what was his giant persona, let's call. It still didn't make it 50 meters tall, so there's definitely something more there that we're still in the dark.

Also, as for the red giant, the whole Elen-becomes-a-giant thing made me wonder whether or not he's also human. None of the other giants seem to display any sort of intelligence among them, but that one is clearly on a different level. Plus, it somehow manages to disappear at will, which would fit, since I guess it'd be easy to "hide" considering the walls are so high.

On the other hand, it seemed like Elen simply "took over" the body of a giant and it transformed into what was his giant persona, let's call. It still didn't make it 50 meters tall, so there's definitely something more there that we're still in the dark.

Spoiler for ch9:

I'd say it's whatever his father injected into him. Probably some DNA cocktail mix he put together from one of the giants. That's the only logical thing I can think of. Don't ask how he got it though...

I'm glad that he reverted back, since I could tell it was him from the start. Doubt I would continue reading further if he stayed in giant mode. This way it makes it more mysterious and also interesting to see the ramifications from those that witnessed what happened...

I'm glad that he reverted back, since I could tell it was him from the start. Doubt I would continue reading further if he stayed in giant mode. This way it makes it more mysterious and also interesting to see the ramifications from those that witnessed what happened...

Spoiler for ch9, Elen's dad et all:

Actually, the cocktail thing is probably right. There's an awful lot of things we don't know about that liquid Elen was injected with, not to mention about his father. Something that crossed my mind is whether or not this liquid was something developed by him and that is being tested into people who join the Scouting Party. The dad had mentioned he had "something" to show him as soon as Elen had showed signs of interest in joining that squad, and although we never get confirmation if that thing was the injection or not, I guess it'd give somewhat of a motive for the party's action. They keep going outside by themselves and overall it's a pointless thing, seeing as they die. But maybe if it's some higher-ups experiment to see if takeovers such as what happened to Elen would occur it could make up for some interesting stuff.

Complete speculation, though. It's just the dad disappearing a bit after the wall is breached in 845 seemed awfully suspicious...

Had begun to read this from chapter...5 or 6 ? I almost threw up because of how hellish this manga is compared from what other manga that I've read recently, but then it starts to grow on me

Maybe I should just give this manga a try from chapter 1 and see what will become of this..

edit+
At last I've finished reading it...
By the way, do you think this titan behavior is rather..strange?

Spoiler:

It's in chapter 9, page 11....
We already know that those titan will not bother other lifeforms other than human...but then, the teacher in one of the chapter state that those titans don't attack human to feed themselves, but to slaughter them. Which brings me to a question, what kind of food that they actually eat for their nourishment? While looking at that picture where a titan eat the pillar...can we presume that wood (or whatever that pillar are made of) is their food?

I'm glad that he reverted back, since I could tell it was him from the start. Doubt I would continue reading further if he stayed in giant mode. This way it makes it more mysterious and also interesting to see the ramifications from those that witnessed what happened...

Indeed. It was obviously him, but seeing him return to his normal self was pretty shocking, given how relentless people's deaths have been thus far. If he was swallowed whole, I'd have thought he'd come back, but after losing his arm and leg, I was 100% sure he was done for. I don't think him staying in giant mode would have completely killed the manga for me though, since I like Mikasa's personality and attitude very much to care about it . It would have been sad though, seeing the reason for her existence to not be there.

Shingeki no Kyojin or Attack on Titans .......is a series about survival in a fantasy world infested with wicked and man-eating giants.

Quote:

Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by giants. Giants are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of giants.

Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a giant in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a super giant that appears out of thin air. As the smaller giants flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Elen vows that he will murder every single giant and take revenge for all of mankind.

Nominated for the 4th Manga Taisho Awards (2011) and winner of the 35th annual Kodansha Manga award for Best Shounen.

To put it in summary,
-Interesting leads and characters (be it kids and adults, equally likeable), and the lead girl is just incredibly badass with leet fighting skills;
-Man-eating giants who took the pleasure of devouring people;
-Non-stop action packed;
-Fascinating fantasy world and environment;
-Story about absolute survival of humanity in a brinck their extinction;
- Story about what it means to be REAL soldiers defending humanity, yep the main characters are essentialy armymen.

The scanlations are out until chapter 24. I would’nt recommend mf since they’ve yet to provide the entire volumes.. you can simply scout the net for them.